“Authority without wisdom is like a heavy axe without an edge, fitter to bruise than polish.”

―

Anne Bradstreet

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……… tweet from Republican National Party on June 14, 2018 ………….

Join or Else. If there is one common theme Trump and his merry band of corrupt amoral yahoos have espoused, this is it. Yeah. They may cloak it in some vapid superficial niceties, but, in the end, it “Join or Else.

That said. (stepping back to my words of January 2017)

———————————-

Well.

Yesterday was an interestingly disturbing day to begin “the new era of The United States of America.”

I listened to the Trump inauguration speech with growing horror. It had all the trappings of authoritarianism wrapped snugly in a blanket of patriotism & promises of wealth, security, strength and ‘greatness.’

I listened to it not just as a citizen but as a business guy.

Yeah. Populism can be seen in business just as it can be seen in politics. In business it can be called ‘the cult mentality’ and more often than not its leader is a ‘less-than-benevolent’ dictator. Let’s call it a ‘join, or else’ culture. You can drive membership in this culture a couple of ways … both grounded in fear.

Fear of losing <part 1>.Outsiders are trying to steal what is ours … people who don’t believe in what we believe in are trying to steal what is ours … join us because we are the people who count and matter.

I do not want to lose what is rightfully mine.

Fear of losing <part 2>.I am on the outside looking in and … well … holy shit … if I don’t join I am gonna lose everything <or be branded as a non joiner>.

I will join because if I don’t I am up shit creek without a paddle and lose what I have.

Businesses try this shit all the time. It is their way of building a strong culture, claiming it is inclusive, albeit inclusive is grounded by ‘a tight set of club rules.’ They will argue it is not a tight set but rather a basic construct which binds people in a good way … you call it tomato and I call it rotten. This Trump version of populism is, well, it goes beyond corporate cult culture. This version is close to being batshit crazy dangerous thought leadership.

Let’s look at the brochure and talk a minute with the Trump Club recruiter.

The cover of the brochure suggests an unstoppable America, driven solely by self-interest, in other words, our Club wins at all costs at the expense of anyone who stands in our way! <“if you want to win, join us” it says …>.

It further reads with threatening all those who might stand in the way of this Club and it’s winning/great objective. It contains an adamant stance of ‘no real choice’, i.e., a demanded unity not an asked for unity.

Yeah.

Some of the club benefits look awful good in the brochure … more & better jobs, stronger economy, stronger security, less business regulations and country pride. And then I turn over the brochure just to check out the legalese, the cost of the benefits as it were, to explore how the promises of the Club will be delivered.

The headline on the back of the brochure really wanted me to join this club … the message of “join today because today is the day the people become the rulers of this country.” I vaguely remember that being the call of the French Revolution but it sounds cool <although I could swear we, the people, have been voting in people as representatives for awhile>.

But. Whew. It sounds good. I like it.

It feels empowering and inspirational with the added comfort that I will no longer be one of “the forgotten people which will be forgotten no longer.” I know for sure that would like to not be forgotten and being part of a club would be nice and … well … gosh … uhm … now that I think about it … I didn’t know I had been forgotten.

The recruiter leans forward and says “of course you were, the intellectual globalist elite in Washington and around the world have been keeping you down … they don’t care about you … they have forgotten that it was you that made them part of the wealthy elite.”

Ok. But didn’t your Club President build his wealth off the backs of ‘forgotten people’ and … well … it seems like they aren’t any better off but he is a shitload better off, doesn’t it?

Oh … no, no, no … he appreciates everything they have done for him. Hey. And don’t you want to be wealthy too?

I look down at the brochure and I see the bolded ‘make wealthy’ words and have to ask the club recruiter, decked out in an ‘America first’ hat and neatly pressed ‘make America great’ uniform like shirt, I ask the recruiter … “this becoming wealthy thing … its sounds an awful lot like Amway.”

Oh, no, it is nothing like that at all. Our Club will make everything great for everyone and you will have great opportunities to get the wealth you have always deserved, but haven’t got, because the lazy, less than hard working elite will not get it anymore … we will make sure you get your fair share. Hey. Look at this picture of the Club President in his office … check out the gold curtains … the gold rug and the gold fixtures … that is wealth. That is what you can be part of!

Oh.

And, look, if you join today you get a hat <which you should wear as often as possible so that we can tell who is in the club and who isn’t>.

And, even better, we should have some additional pieces of apparel you can wear soon. In fact … we will have special uniforms & badges for the original club members to showcase their elite status in the club … everyone will want to wear them.

Ok. One last question … your club is “God’s chosen.” I didn’t know God chose … I thought he was all about equal among all men. Does this mean that other clubs don’t believe in God or does God just favor us? And does this mean I have to believe in your version of God and … well … what exactly is your version of God?

“Oh.

Well.

We are a Christian based club … but of course we accept anyone. But don’t forget … Christianity, above all, outlines all the values which lead to a better version of yourself … and, well, that is what we want all Club members to be able to achieve. Everyone should have values, don’t you think?”

Whew. This is fucking crazy shit going on

To be clear. A shitload of the club leaders and followers are going to try and draw some false comparisons and equivalents to past American heroes.

To be clear. This is significantly different than Thomas Jefferson’s plea for unity in his inaugural address in 1800 — “every difference of opinion is not a difference of principle.”

The Trump club has one principle and one opinion.

There is no room for anything else. More important than color of skin, religion, gender … this may actually be my root concern with ‘the club’.

The main principle?

Believe what I believe … or you are not a true believer.

That kind of seems to be the club. Kind of an “us versus them” attitude … uhm … although us <being a US citizen> is actually also them <being US citizens>.

“Oh no … no … why wouldn’t you believe in the United States of America if you lived in there? … everyone believes that. And if they don’t? … well … they should.”

Anyway. Oh. One last question. I didn’t hear it anywhere from the Club President or see it in the brochure … do you guys have a constitution?

Oh, we don’t need one. We just demand a ‘total allegiance to the Club’ … oh … which believes the same things as the country wants … so you should be all for it.”

(ME) Gosh. I am not sure I can join this club … I already have a constitution I live by … and my allegiance is, first & foremost, to that and not some Club and how they think. <period … end of statement>

Look. The one thing Trump was 100% right on is that January 20, 2017 was the dawn of a new era.

“Now comes the hour of action.”

That was the call for the Trump Club. “Join or else”is what should be heard.

Just to be clear.

I am a believer in God <however you want to define it>.

I am a patriot <however you want to define it>.

I am a proud American <however you want to define it>.

But I am not joining the club called “Trump America.”

In fact … I say ‘fuck you and your fucking club.’

As for what I will do? …………….

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“I was not born to be forced. I will breathe after my own fashion. Let us see who is the strongest.”

“On matters of style, swim with the current, on matters of principle, stand like a rock.”

―

Thomas Jefferson

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“We become not a melting pot but a beautiful mosaic.

Different people, different beliefs, different yearnings, different hopes, different dreams.”

―

Jimmy Carter

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Sigh.

Today Barack Obama will no longer be president of the United States. Donald J Trump will become the nation’s 45th president <… whew …. that was painful to type>.

Two ships will pass in the night … and oddly … they are both ships of hope & change.

One offered hope & change and the other makes most of us …well … hope for change.

Trump is the ultimate hope & change president … we keep hoping he will change and become the president we deserve and need.

And, no, I do not want him to be Obama. As any business person will tell you the worst thing you can ever do when you gain a new leader, CEO or President of the company, is to compare & contrast or expect based on the past. You seek to judge based on one’s merits & attributes … because it is not what was but what is and what will be that is important.

The burden of the past resides not in our expectation but rather upon the shoulders of the leader to accept and recognize.

We who did not vote for Trump, citizens of a country with great potential, don’t ask our new president to stop being who he is but rather hope he will change and become the president we need.

Does that sound incongruent?

Maybe.

But I have seen time after time a leader step into a role without changing who they are as a person <for good or for bad> and, yet, assume the mantle of responsibility the role demands. In order for Trump to be successful he will have to be Trump, tweets included, but we could hope the job, the responsibility, will change the veneer of leadership from what it is to what it should be.

Anyway.

Whether our new President will remain an asshat & seemingly oblivious to some basic leadership skills is yet to be determined and I have written far too much about Trump already let me spend a minute or two to share some thoughts on USA’s 44th president <because whether Trump likes it or not he is going to be measured, judged & compared to the 44th president for quite some time>.

I haven’t always agreed with everything Obama has decided, surely haven’t agreed with some things he has said and how he has said them, but … damn … I respected the man.

While we throw around the word ‘authentic’ in some fairly weird ways these days … he seemed authentic.

He cried.

He laughed.

He was a dad and a husband.

He stood with dignity.

He treated the presidency with respect.

And, as a business guy, while a shitload of people bitched & moaned about ‘executive orders’ and ‘doing things on his own’ I applauded him <on most things>. If your people ain’t getting shit done then … well … you get shit done.

You lead and make people follow.

Could he have managed that differently?

Sure.

He never really ran a business so there were times he missed some organizational behavior type shit … but the intent? I applauded him.

As a business guy I sometimes felt he was certainly too idealistic and held on a little too tightly to his ideals, as well as what he felt was the ideal way to do things. On the other hand … while it sometimes came across as too intellectual or too ‘morally lectury’ <I made that phrase up> he always demanded that we not think transactionally but rather demanded we view our moral imperative as a guide for our transactions and behavior.

As a business guy I admired his overlooked, but very important, constructive things he did do. As a business guy I know that getting shit done is more often found in the part of the glacier that is under water … the part no one sees nor do they make an effort to see. Just google Obama’s ‘things done’ and it is a relatively long laundry list of small looking initiatives which have created a foundation for fairer treatment of student loans, shifts in the way healthcare is done <not affordable healthcare but some of the underpinnings, some financial reform, some smaller lower income protection initiatives and more. And if you doubt their value pay attention to the Cabinet hearings because you will hear a number of the potential appointees mentioning expanding some of the less glamourous aspects of the Obama administration. I admire when someone gets the nuts & bolts polished and set in place well because it ain’t glamorous … but we all benefit.

As a business guy I was envious of his long view but wanted to chastise him on his sometimes lack of managing the short view. ISIS is a perfect example. The strategy is perfect, the generals agree with the strategy <as one general said “sure, I could take Mosul with 15,000 Marines … but then what would I do with it … it has nothing I want.”> but he failed to manage an impatient country. He failed in that sense because he focused on fear & insecurity <as did all politicians> when the undercurrent of America is … well … impatience. We want to do shit and we want to do shit now. That doesn’t mean you have to do the shit that the employees/people want … just that you have to acknowledge the impatience and manager it.

But even with that example I applaud the fact he never crumbled to public pressure and stuck with what his generals agreed with and the long view of how to ‘win’ <as if there is an actual ‘win’ there> in the middle east.

Oh.

With regard to the last point I just made.

As a business guy I think that was Obama’s biggest Achilles heel – his lack of understanding with regard to America’s impatience. We are an impatient country. His style never seemed to accommodate our impatience let alone even acknowledge our impatience.

And, yet, all that said … I believe we will view all that as ‘was not so bad’ mostly because it seems impossible to imagine Obama behaving the way Trump does.

And that doesn’t say as much about Trump as it does about Obama.

Obama is what he is.

He never got too high or too low.

He never seemed to overreact and, maybe sometimes, react enough.

He never abandoned decency … nor abandoned the dignity of the office.

He never stopped being a parent & husband even while being a president.

He never … well … never lost his ‘ideal compass’ thru the ego necessary to assume the responsibility of the title.

I need to clarify that last point.

Someone needs ego to assume leadership responsibility. It is inherent in believing you can do the job. Everyone who assumes the top job has the ego attached. Your character is defined by how you manage your ego. Obama always clearly seemed driven by his ideals and ideas with his ego being the engine to power thru. Conversely, we may want to think about what Obama would have been like if he had led with his ego and … well … whatever ideas followed behind <it is difficult to lead with ego and have ideals … okay … someone led by ego doesn’t have ideology … just ideas>.

Anyway.

No matter what you think of his politics & policies it is difficult to not respect the way he conducted himself.

Instead of being dismissive it may benefit the 45th president to be reflective of the 44th president’s behavior and attitudes.

Not to mimic but to learn.

As for today?

I admit on a day where I feel the overwhelming uncertainty that comes along with a quasi-leader who embraced uncertainty that I almost want to thank Trump because, well, because of him we now maybe better view Obama.

I admit on a day where I feel the overwhelming uncertainty that comes along with a quasi-leader who embraced uncertainty that I appreciated the opportunity to hear Christopher Buckley, son of the father of American Conservatism William Buckley, also speak with trepidation … reminding me that my uneasiness represents the majority of American adults – conservatives included.

I admit on a day where I feel the overwhelming uncertainty that comes along with a quasi-leader who embraced uncertainty that there is certainly a group of people, a minority of adults, but certainly a group of people who are excited with whatever change Trump offers <and I hope, for all our sake, that they were right and I was wrong>.

I admit on a day where I feel the overwhelming uncertainty that comes along with a quasi-leader who embraced uncertainty that I already miss the reliable sense of consistency in policy and leadership that Obama offered us day in and day out.

I admit on a day where I feel the overwhelming uncertainty that comes along with a quasi-leader who embraced uncertainty that I still do not understand the vitriol spewed against President Obama. He may have been easy to dislike for some people … but I couldn’t envision how someone could hate him … he just didn’t seem hateable.

I admit on a day where I feel the overwhelming uncertainty that comes along with a quasi-leader who embraced uncertainty that sometimes you don’t appreciate something until it is gone.

I didn’t always agree with President Obama but in my heart of hearts I never doubted he was a good man with good intentions for a good America, I never doubted he was qualified for the job and I never doubted he would always encourage us to seek out the better versions of ourselves … not the worst version.

And, I admit, for all of that I will miss him.

And with that I bid good wishes to the original hope & change candidate and welcome the new hope & change candidate … hoping he will change for the better.